Date:         Thu, 6 Mar 2014 11:47:58 -0800
Reply-To:     "SDF ( Scott Daniel Foss )" <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         "SDF ( Scott Daniel Foss )" <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Organization: Cosmic Reminders
Subject:      Re: Auto transmission questions
Comments: To: Aaron <a.robinson.lists@GMAIL.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <10DCDF72-0B4D-4127-981D-6B1904BD8C9E@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

If you can afford it..
just figure on having it rebuilt.
It's very due at this mileage.

the neutral safety switch is in the console where the shifter is.
There's a tiny allen screw to address to get the shifter handle off ..
after that console comes apart easity..
the switch is right there in plane site.

I like a generic heavy duty starter button on the dash myself..
that I wire directly with good size wires .  Little redundancy that way.

Scott


On 3/6/2014 11:19 AM, Aaron wrote:
> Hello all.
>
> I'm looking at getting an inexpensive Vanagon Carat ('91 with 175,000 miles, original engine and transmission) and have some questions regarding the Automatic transmission. I've only dealt with manuals in the past.
>
> The transmission is leaking ATF and the owner keeps filling it when it starts shifting poorly. I haven't checked levels on it, but it does a few strange things.
>
> 1. It won't start in Park. Assuming this is a simple switch to fix and can look that one up in the bentley.
> 2. When I come to a faster stop (not an emergency in any way), when reapplying the gas, it doesn't quite engage. It's almost as if it's in neutral, then "falls" into gear after a 1/2 second on the gas.
>
> I'll be crawling around underneath a bit more to see if I can find the leak(s) this weekend. If there are other common things I should be aware of for Automatics, It love to know. I'm trying to figure out if the transmission is serviceable as-is, or whether I should figure on fixing it now. The van itself is in decent shape but I don't know if it would be worth a new transmission, and I'm not sure how hard it would be to seal up the old one.
>
> Thanks!
> Aaron
> '87 Westy (manual)
> '91 Carat Automatic??
>